NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 6, 2019

The St. Louis Blues arrived on the NHL scene in 1967 as part of the league's great expansion that doubled its number of teams from six to 12. The franchise has found some success over the decades, including nine division titles but three failed trips to the finals in 1968, 1969, and 1970, losing all three series by sweeps. But the league's playoff format at the time all but guaranteed failure for the expansion clubs in the finals, and it would be many, many years before the team and the city would make a return trip to the promised land. Even a 114-point season and a Presidents Trophy in the 1999-2000 season ended in major disappointment, losing a grueling and heartbreaking first-round series to the eighth-seeded San Jose Sharks.

The trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and to the Cup hoisting ceremony instantly erased 52 years of wait and frustration and put an end to a topsy-turvy season that saw the Blues enter the campaign as one of the favorites in the Western Conference but fall to the bottom of the standings partway through. After the previous season's playoff miss and the mid-round exit the year prior, the club seemed on a dangerous precipice, risking to fall further back in a crowded Western Conference with no room for dwindling fortunes and failure. In mid-November, the Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo and promoted Assistant Coach Craig Berube. But by January 1, the Blues' fortunes had not changed. The club was at the bottom of the Western Conference standings and tied with Ottawa for the fewest points in hockey (34). It was time for an on-ice change. The Blues promoted rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington and sparked an 11-game winning streak and a playoff berth, amassing 99 regular season points and entering the playoffs as the Western Conference's fourth-seeded team with a first-round date with the upstart Winnipeg Jets, the first opponent on the road to Lord Stanley glory.

The Jets, a team that also accrued 99 points and a place in the standings directly above St. Louis in the Central, flew into the playoffs with high hopes after a Western Conference Finals appearance the year prior and widely considered one of the top contenders in the NHL. The Blues would win the first two games on the road by a single goal each, a major hurdle for the resurgent St. Louis club, playing a hot rookie goaltender, to overcome. But a return trip home would not bear the same fruit; the Blues would drop both games three and four on home ice, the first 6-3 and other other 2-1 in overtime. Game five saw the series return to Winnipeg and a return to the winning ways for the Blues with a 3-2 victory, the same score the Blues would win by back on home ice in game six to advance.

Awaiting in round two was the Dallas Stars, the 93-point 4th place team that dispatched the Nashville Predators in round one. The Blues split the first two games of the series at home, which conventional sports wisdom might very well suggest favored Dallas, headed back home with a desirable split on the road. The clubs would again split on Dallas ice, with St. Louis winning game three by a score of 4-3 and dropping game four 4-2, returning home to St. Louis tied at two. The Blues would lose game five at home by a 2-1 score but return to the win column in game six on the road, defeating the Stars 4-1. Game seven on St. Louis ice saw the teams skate to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation but in the second overtime period a Pat Maroon goal would send St. Louis to the Western Conference Finals.

Awaiting the Blues was the San Jose Sharks, a 101 point regular season team coming off of back-to-back seven game series against the defending Western Conference champions Vegas Golden Knights and the upstart Colorado Avalanche. The series began in San Jose where a rowdy crowd celebrated a 6-3 Sharks win. The Blues would tie the series at one on enemy ice in game two, securing a 4-2 win. The Sharks would win a high scoring overtime affair in game three by score of 6-5 in St. Louis to take a 2-1 series lead. But the Sharks would never win another game. The Blues would reel off three straight, winning game four by a tight 2-1 score and outscoring San Jose by a combined 10-1 in games five and six to skate to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Blues would meet the Bruins in the Battle of the Bs for the Stanley Cup. Boston skated into the Finals having defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven, the Columbus Blue Jackets in six, and sweeping their way through the Eastern Conference Finals with a 4-0 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The series opened in Boston with the Bruins taking game one by a score of 4-2. The Blues would even the series at a game apiece with a dramatic 3-2 overtime win in game two. With the series shifting back to St. Louis, another split was in the making. The Bruins demolished the Blues 7-2 in game three to take a 2-1 series lead while St. Louis would win game four, 4-2. In game five, back in Boston, the Blues would win 2-1 to take a 3-2 series lead. Down two and needing to win on the road to stave off elimination, the Bruins rallied for five goals in game six to pull the series even at three. With game seven on Boston ice, the Blues would dominate the scoreboard and raise the Stanley Cup following a 4-1 victory.

NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p presentation fares well, albeit with some warts along the way. Noise is commonplace, even during some game action footage. Interviews are particularly dense with noise in addition to other issues such as macroblocking. But the image is by-and-large pleasant even if rough around the edges. Textural qualities are nice if not slightly lacking at times. Interview scenes are particularly problematic, appearing flat and lacking textural stability. On-ice footage, particularly some of the slow-mo shots, enjoy quality detail and stout texturing on uniforms and faces. Colors are of a good quality. Blues jerseys pop with impressive punch to the primary blue and yellow trim. Whites are crisp and various other opponent uniforms find similarly pleasing punch. This is an imperfect but generally satisfactory video presentation.

NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The presentation is quite good, not substantial but finding pleasing width along the two-channel configuration. The front end carries music to the edges with solid definition and a quality low end, even with the absence of a dedicated subwoofer channel. Effects find themselves across the entire front and narration, interview, and play-by-play calls appear in a nicely imaged front-center location. Clarity to all elements is fine. Note that there are no language options beyond English and no subtitles of any kind are included.

NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2019 Stanley Cup Champions: St. Louis Blues contains the following extras. A DVD copy of the program is included with purchase. A digital copy code is not. This release does not appear to ship with a slipcover.

• Best of Round 1 (1080p, 1:49): Video and sound highlights from the 2019 playoffs, first round.
• Best of Round 2 (1080p, 1:44): Video and sound highlights from the 2019 playoffs, second round.
• Best of Round 3 (1080p, 1:38): Video and sound highlights from the 2019 playoffs, third round.
• Extended Stanley Cup On Ice Celebration (1080p, 2:56): More video highlights from the moments after the Blues won the Cup.
• Extended Locker Room Celebration (1080p, 2:01): The Blues party hard in the locker room after the final game in this anything-but-"extended" look at the festivities.
• Extended Parade Celebration (1080p, 4:33): Video images from St. Louis' parade.
• All 16 Game Winning Moments (1080p, 4:06): A video compilation highlighting the final moments of each of the team's 16 playoff wins.
• A Look at the Blues' Turn Around (1080p, 5:01): A look at the team's early season struggles, a coaching and goaltender change, and the club's resurgence to win the Cup.
• Skates Off with Vladimir Tarasenko (1080p, 2:32): Vince Martin provides the soundtrack for, and Jon Hamm narrates, a look at the player and life in sports in St. Louis.
• John Kelly Calls the Stanley Cup Final (1080p, 1:16): The Blues' TV announcer earns the right to call one period in each Finals game on the radio.

NHL Stanley Cup 2019 Champions: St. Louis Blues Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For the Blues it was a journey 52 years in the making, but for this Blu-ray it's more or less a carbon copy of other NHL playoff recap releases. It takes on the same visual style and cadence, includes the same basic array of extras, and video and audio presentations haven't much changed, either. For Blues and hockey fans it's a worthwhile package, but it does leave fans wanting for a more complete package that includes all seven games in their entirety. Recommended.